Crimson Rose
by Kyra-sensei
Summary: Van Helsing has a precise reputation, a definite way of doing things, but when he is sent on a mission and things aren't usual - even for his world - he is forced to change things.


**Authors note: Well hi everyone! This is my first Van Helsing fanfic, so I hope it goes smoothly *big grin*! I hope you all enjoy it. Oh yeah, and please review. Thanks!**

**I don't own Van Helsing**

**Chapter one**

**Encounter**

He has been following me for quite some time. He is stealthy, quiet and excellent at keeping himself hidden. The only problem is, and it has nothing to do with him, is that no one can follow me without me knowing about it, for a very distinct reason. I keep walking down the narrow, wet path in between old apartment buildings and stop once I am just about to disappear in the dark shadows. I can hear that he is coming closer - not by his footsteps.

"What is it you want from me exactly?" I turn around to face him, but I can't see his face. He wears a long black leather coat. The handle of a gun glistening in the bit of light that shines in the narrow gap between the buildings. He wears a hat, but I can only see a bit of it. "You've been following me since I let the bar." I don't actually drink. There's a different reason why I go to the bar.

"And you led me to a quiet place before confronting me." There is something about his voice that sparks a flame of recognition and something else, though I'm not sure why or what.

"If you knew I knew then why continue following?"

"Because I have a job, and it's not like I haven't been caught in conflict before." He rests his hand on his gun and steps into the light. At first his hat shadows his face, but then he moves it up slightly and I can see his features. I cannot deny that he is painfully good looking. His hair is thick and dark brown and falls to his shoulders. His eyes are the same brown as his hair and his facial structure is striking. Suddenly I know what the recognition is.

"So, you're Van Helsing? Am I supposed to be extremely complimented or incredibly scared that you've come for me?"

"Depends how you react to situations. You can either be complimented or scared that I'm here to kill you."

"Kill me? Well well, that seems rather unfair and uncalled for. Don't the people you work for order you to kill evil creatures? I haven't done anything wrong. I haven't killed anyone, I haven't provoked wars or started mobs. Why is it that your people want me murdered?"

"You're a threat." he answered simply.

"A threat to what exactly? Mankind? I haven't done anything to them. They don't even know I exist."

"That is exactly how we want it to stay."

"'We', them or you?" he was quiet for a moment, probably considering what I had said. "I am not a threat. Just because I am what I am does not mean that I am evil. This, to me, seems like a matter of discrimination rather than a matter of safety breech." There was more silence and I couldn't help myself from asking; "Do you even know what I am and why they sent you to kill me?"

"What does it matter?"

"Oh it matters."

"The people I serve are holy men. They would not wish you dead if it weren't for the greater good." By now he has slipped back into the shadows. The light must have been annoying to his eyes. That's completely understandable. I know it irritates my eyes sometimes.

"Like I said, I've done nothing wrong. I'm not a threat." he seems to consider this as there is more silence.

"Threat or no, they are clearly interested in you."

"Then why kill me if they can just study me?"

"Are you really willing to give yourself up as a study subject?" he asks me. That's not exactly what I have in mind but it's better than dying or, in this case, being murdered. Perhaps if he does end up retrieving me rather than killing me, I can just escape him and hide myself somewhere where he won't be able to find me. Or at least won't find me easily. This made me wonder how he managed to find me at all. I have not made myself known in anyway, so how could he have found me? It was probably that church organization, but how could they have found me? I know why they would be interested in me and why I would be considered a threat, but why would they send someone to kill me when I've done nothing wrong?

"I won't let you kill me." I simply told him.

"You said it yourself, you have never killed anyone. You don't have the experience that I have. What makes you think you can last in a fight against me?" it sounded conceited, but from what I could hear in his voice, it wasn't actually arrogance.

"Just because I haven't killed anyone does not mean that I am defenseless." I most certainly am not defenseless. I can handle myself, very well actually. I also have an advantage; he doesn't know what I am. However, I know that he has a very defined reputation, one that makes him feared, hated, respected and sometimes even idealized. Of course everyone has different feelings toward him and not many people don't know of him. "I don't plan on fighting you, I just don't agree that I should be killed for nothing."

"I agree," this caught me by surprise. "You shouldn't be killed for nothing. You were right in assuming that they didn't tell me what you are and I don't know why, but I do know that they were very adamant concerning you, so I will be taking you will me." Well, I still had my previous plan; I could hope to escape him while on our way to Rome. "Something I would like to know though is how you know about the people I work for. They are practically non-existent."

"Not as much as you think." is all I had to say concerning the matter. Whether he was happy with the answer or not, he left it. "Can I at least get a change in clothing?" there is more silence as he considers this.

"Very well, but I will be coming with you."

"I expect no less." with that I continued to make my way to the place I have called home for a few years. Not all my life, but a few years. The house is not very big and isn't exactly part of the town either. It's that one house that is excluded from the rest and I don't really mind that. I never consider myself part of the town anyway, so why complain about being excluded? Van Helsing agreed to let me have privacy while I changed but warned me against doing anything stupid - like climbing out of the window and running away - but it is not part of my intentions to do such a thing in the first place.

I changed into a pair of tight black pants where the bottom tucked itself into my shin length leather boots with a tight black shirt that I tucked into the pants and a black long sleeve shirt over it, complete with an ankle length black leather coat. Much like the one Van Helsing wears. I undo the bun on my head and braid it into one long blonde plat. I pack a few sets of clothes and then meet Van Helsing at the front door.

"You know, it's almost suspicious." he said.

"What is?"

"How cooperative you are being. Normally they don't come as easily."

"Your victims? I have no doubt. I don't really want to die though." he didn't comment on what I said instead just stepped outside and waited, his back turned to me. I don't know if the fact that he has his back to me means that he thinks that I am not a threat, which is rather insulting, or if he trusts me not to do anything stupid. I did just say that I don't want to die, so why attack him and provoke that statement? Before I passed through the door, leaving the house, I glanced to my side toward the mirror. I don't really like looking in the mirror because it shows me what I don't want to see.

The left side of my face holds much beauty; lush golden blonde hair with a pale green eye and one half lush lips with a small nose and a rosy cheek. The right side of my face, however, shows something completely different. It shows white hair with a grey eye and lips that would be full if I had the other half of my upper lip and because of not having one my teeth showed prominently, revealing one long fang. The right side of my face is pale and horrific. Scary even. The only thing that was the same on both sides, apart from my actual face and bone structure, would be my small nose.

Sometimes I reason that I don't look like that in person, because when I braid and brush my hair I can see that all of it is blonde and when I feel my lips I can feel that it is completely whole and lush. There are those reasons and then there is the fact that no one screams when they see me. That's a good thing, but I know that if everyone had to see me for what I actually am, they would see that and it would frighten them and it would make them hate me.

After closing the door behind me I join Van Helsing and try not to feel self conscious about my face. He doesn't look at me though and that relieves me a little.

**Authors note: Thanks for reading everyone! I know that it was a short chapter and I can guarantee that they won't all be this short. Can anyone guest what she is? Please review! Thanks. **


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